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Labor demands Pyne retract Hitler jibe

Adam Gartrell

They say the first one to mention the Nazis automatically loses the argument.

The federal government certainly thinks so, demanding an apology from opposition frontbencher Christopher Pyne after he likened Labor's woes to a film about the downfall of Hitler's Third Reich.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard was forced to reshuffle her frontbench on Saturday - just days after she announced a September 14 election - after senior ministers Chris Evans and Nicola Roxon quit the ministry.

Coupled with the arrest on fraud charges last week of former Labor MP turned crossbencher Craig Thomson, the ructions sparked new coalition claims that the government had descended into chaos.

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Mr Pyne led the attack on Sunday but may have gone too far.

"This government is starting to resemble a scene from Downfall," he told reporters in Adelaide, referring to the 2004 film that depicts the final days of Hitler's Third Reich.

The comment quickly saw Mr Pyne trending on social media site Twitter and drew a furious response from incoming attorney-general Mark Dreyfus, who will be sworn into his new portfolio on Monday.

"These immature and offensive comments have no place in Australian political debate," Mr Dreyfus told journalists in Melbourne.

"These comments are deeply hurtful to Holocaust survivors, they are deeply hurtful to any right-thinking Australian."

Mr Dreyfus, who is Jewish, called for an apology - even though he has himself previously likened Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to Hitler's propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels.

Mr Pyne was unrepentant, later telling AAP his comment did not seek to compare Ms Gillard to Hitler. Rather it was comparing "apposite scenes" from a well-known fictional movie to Labor's dysfunction.

He said it was Mr Dreyfus who should say sorry over his Goebbels comments: "As a Jew, he should be ashamed of himself and apologise."

Mr Dreyfus defended his own comment saying it was a well known term in relation to modern propaganda theory to refer to Goebellian."

Ms Gillard rallied Labor election candidates on Sunday, telling them they're the frontline troops who will take the government's message to the Australian people over the next seven-and-a-half months.

While Ms Gillard declined to speak to reporters at the event in the nation's capital, newly-promoted minister Mike Kelly said the government was focused on the mission ahead.

"I can't think of an election that's been more important in the history of this country," he said. "So much is at stake."

Senior frontbencher Anthony Albanese said he did not expect any more Labor ministers to resign before polling day.

He pointed out nine coalition MPs had announced their intention to retire at the next election.

Australian Greens leader Christine Milne said reshuffles were a normal part of governing.

Treasurer Wayne Swan seized on comments from shadow assistant treasurer Mathias Cormann, who indicated the coalition would not release its budget costings until after the pre-election financial statement.

"There's nothing unusual about that," Senator Cormann told Sky News.

A spokesman for Mr Swan said the coalition's approach to costings had turned into a farce.